Mexico's Afrodescendientes : A Multimedia Unit for Intermediate Spanish Learners

Mexico's Afrodescendientes:A Multimedia Unit for Intermediate Spanish Learners Laura Graebner Shepin ACTFL's World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (2015) and the NCSSFLACTFL Can-Do Statements (2017) clearly define the expectation that all students, regardless of their language proficiency, have the opportunity to learn about, evaluate, compare, and make connections to the target culture. However, to develop a truly global perspective, students at every level of instruction must have the opportunity to engage with diverse cultures (not just the dominant one) and to examine culture through the lens of social justice (Randolph and Johnson 2017; Hines-Gaither and Accilien 2023). Nevertheless, persistent anti-Blackness in the profession has resulted in a very limited body of instructional materials that encourage language students to meaningfully explore the diversity of Afro-Hispanic culture (Alley 1994; Kennedy 1987; Padilla and Vana 2022; Villegas Rogers 2006). Such classroom materials are critical to the inclusion and retention of Black students (Anya 2022; Clark 1982; Kennedy 1987; Davis 1986; Davis and Markham 1991; Villegas Rogers 2006) and facilitate all students' appreciation of the complexity and richness of Hispanic culture (Abreu 2016; Alley 1994; Davis 1986; Jackson 1978; Kennedy 1987; Villegas Rogers 2006). Additionally, course materials that thoughtfully include diverse cultures improve students' awareness of racism; according to Alley (1994), "providing information about Afro-Hispanic culture enables all students to make comparisons and contrasts with their own culture and to deepen their understanding of issues of diversity and tolerance" (4). However, simply creating curricular visibility is not enough. Teachers must also examine how their own instructional practices, and their failure to explicitly address racism in the classroom, continue to reinforce anti-Blackness (Anya 2021). When constructing and teaching a diverse curriculum, Hines-Gaither and Accilien (2023) argue that, in addition to the ACTFL standards, educators should use a second, complementary set of standards, The Six Dimensions of Antiracism in World Languages (16). The unit presented in this article, therefore, not only reflects ACFTL's learning standards but also takes into consideration the "Systemic/Structural/Historical" standard that Hines-Gaither and Accilien define. This states, in part, that language learners and/or educators will "address how race, ethnicity, racism, antiracism, colorism, and other forms of oppression operate on systemic, structural, and historical levels" and "examine the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of racial prejudice and discrimination" (20). Because the Intermediate-Mid students targeted for this unit likely have little, if any, knowledge about Afro-Mexicans, it is important to provide them with the appropriate informational foundation. Students are first asked questions about race (¿Para qué sirve el concepto de "raza"? ¿Por qué identificamos a las personas por su raza? ¿Qué son ejemplos del racismo?); these questions then lead to a conversation about current expressions of racism within the students' own country. Once students' prior knowledge is activated, the teacher can shift to create an explicit focus on the many ways racism is expressed toward afrodescendientes. Students begin this unit by reading an article entitled "Los afromexicanos, invisibilizados por 200 años, demandan ser End Page 217 tomados en cuenta." This article touches upon the many social, political, and economic issues that negatively and disproportionately impact Afro-Mexicans (Sanders 2020). While reading, students are asked to circle the geographic areas mentioned in the article on a map of Mexico; this not only acquaints them with Mexican geography but also focuses their attention on specific regions that will be referenced in later activities. Following the reading, students complete questions that check for comprehension. To supplement this activity, students watch the video "Somos afromexicanos." Students then complete a chart asking them to identify and sort many of the issues highlighted in the article and the video. This chart is a valuable scaffolding activity for a number of reasons: it promotes active reading and viewing, it requires students to assess the chart's summarized statements and ensures their understanding of key concepts, it focuses students' attention on ideas they may not intuitively recognize as expressions of racism, and it helps students to identify recurring themes that appear in cultural products and practices throughout the unit. ¿Qué información encontraste en las dos fuentes: el artículo de Nadia Sanders y el...